Where is your tag when you quarter out an elk?

[Miles]

  But, a cow or doe head doesn't really prove that you don't have a bull or buck mixed in there somewhere. 

Neither does having the sex organs on one piece of meat...

[et1702]

"Neither does having the sex organs on one piece of meat..."

Sure it does, if you had to you could lay out each piece of meat and show the officer that it was just one animal.

[6x6in6]

If quartered, the tag must remain on the largest portion of the carcass.  P. 71 of the regs.

Close.
It actually says: If quartered, the tag should remain with the carcass or largest portion of the carcass.

[pianoman9701]

If quartered, the tag must remain on the largest portion of the carcass.  P. 71 of the regs.

Close.
It actually says: If quartered, the tag should remain with the carcass or largest portion of the carcass.

Ah, useful information. Interesting slant!

[6x6in6]

If quartered, the tag must remain on the largest portion of the carcass.  P. 71 of the regs.

Close.
It actually says: If quartered, the tag should remain with the carcass or largest portion of the carcass.

Ah, useful information. Interesting slant!

Yup.
You could hang your tag on one of the lower legs that you just whacked off at the knee caps and still be legal.  As long as that lower leg "remains with the carcass."
I personally, wouldn't push that.  I leave it attached to the head somewhere until I got home then shove it in the freezer when I'm done cutting and wrapping.

[jackmaster]

see thats the part that bugs me i figure that as long as i notch the tag upon the kill i should be able to put it in my pocket so it dont get lost on one of the many trips it takes to pack out an elk and then once the big ole elk is safely in the back of the rig then you put the tag on it, what is wrong with that, see the common sense of things just goes right out the window with certain agencies, but when i do kill a big ole bull thats exactly what i am gonna do, the tag will be notched emediatly upon kill but it will be with me so it dont get lost.... and for those who say its illegal or unethical, well just wait till you lose your tag and your standing there with a dead animal trying to explain it to the WDFW..

[6x6in6]

What's interesting is Wyoming.  And what is one of their most commonly written violations has to do with tagging.  I learned that from a Wyoming Game Officer after he thanked me for reading and understanding the law correctly.
Wyoming requires you to keep your tag on your person until you are done with the pack out.  Then it gets attached to the carcass.  Yes, any part of the carcass.  He happened to be driving by as I just returned to my truck with load 2, a front quarter.  The head was already back.  We bs'd for a few.  Then he sprung the semi trick question.  "I don't see your tag on the head anywhere."
Thats because it's in my pack until I'm done with the pack out.  We both got a chuckle out of his question.
He didn't even ask to see a license or the tag.  Talked for a half hour or so and gave me the congrats and have a nice day.

[jackmaster]

  there ya go 6x6in6, you should point that out to the WDFW i guess some fish and game agencies do have a little common sense, and if you think about it, it makes perfect sense to do it that way, cuts down on lost tags and such

[Miles]

"Neither does having the sex organs on one piece of meat..."

Sure it does, if you had to you could lay out each piece of meat and show the officer that it was just one animal.

Who's to say I didn't shoot an animal and bring all the meat home except for the portion with the sex organs attached, and then came back and harvested another deer?   It's no different than having a head in camp to prove the sex of the deer.  They just try to add in a double check system to further deter that type of action.  It doesn't prove that the rest of the meat came off the same animal just because I left a scrotum hanging off one piece of meat, just the same as having one head in camp doesn't prove anything.  It just makes it a pain in the ass for us as hunters to decipher what it is they want us to do in order to avoid being ticketed.

[Alan K]

"Neither does having the sex organs on one piece of meat..."

Sure it does, if you had to you could lay out each piece of meat and show the officer that it was just one animal.

Who's to say I didn't shoot an animal and bring all the meat home except for the portion with the sex organs attached, and then came back and harvested another deer?   It's no different than having a head in camp to prove the sex of the deer.  They just try to add in a double check system to further deter that type of action.  It doesn't prove that the rest of the meat came off the same animal just because I left a scrotum hanging off one piece of meat, just the same as having one head in camp doesn't prove anything.  It just makes it a pain in the ass for us as hunters to decipher what it is they want us to do in order to avoid being ticketed.

 

It all boils down to honesty.  You could go poach an animal and get away with it 99% of the time as far as I'm concerned, but HONESTY is what keeps us all from doing it.  I think the head is plenty evidence, anything more than that is just another pain in the ass like you say, and doesn't truly accomplish anything.

[Bustyn]

see thats the part that bugs me i figure that as long as i notch the tag upon the kill i should be able to put it in my pocket so it dont get lost on one of the many trips it takes to pack out an elk and then once the big ole elk is safely in the back of the rig then you put the tag on it,

The fish and game officer that spoke at my son's Hunter Education course this year said that this is acceptable.  The teacher of the class said it was the recommended method, and the way that he usually does it.  If the tag is notched and in your possession, I don't think you'll have any issues with an officer that encounters you during your pack out.

[Curly]

see thats the part that bugs me i figure that as long as i notch the tag upon the kill i should be able to put it in my pocket so it dont get lost on one of the many trips it takes to pack out an elk and then once the big ole elk is safely in the back of the rig then you put the tag on it,

The fish and game officer that spoke at my son's Hunter Education course this year said that this is acceptable.  The teacher of the class said it was the recommended method, and the way that he usually does it.  If the tag is notched and in your possession, I don't think you'll have any issues with an officer that encounters you during your pack out.

Maybe acceptable to that particular officer, but another officer maybe has a different idea and may go strictly by what it says in the regs.  I place to the tag with the largest portion of the carcass per what is stated in the regs so as not to get nailed on a technicality.